Earth Etude for Elul 29

This is Where it All Begins

by Rabbi Judy Kummer

~Human beings have often pondered the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. As a gardener, I think more about the cycle of pollination and the growth of seeds and plants and flowers, which lead to more pollination and ultimately to the growth of more seeds. I thought of this recently as I was watching a bumblebee drowse lazily among glorious flowers in a garden, pollinating the blooms and allowing for the creation of more seeds and flowers.

In the musical Hamilton, they sing of “the room where it happens” — and it seems to me that this is where the start happens, where the stage is set for new life. Odd to think about that miracle while watching a bumblebee drowse in the middle of a flower!

With the High Holidays come opportunities for each of us to begin anew. We are tasked with doing teshuvah, engaging in a process of spiritual stock-taking; we examine what works and what doesn’t in our relationships and in our lives, and we tinker to bring things more in alignment with what is life-affirming.

This moment, for each of us, is the room where it happens. It’s odd to think that at any moment, our new beginning may start, if only we would be willing to do some introspective work and chance trying something new, to set ourselves off in a new direction. This new course might prove more life-affirming than the path we’ve been on.

May we be the bumblebees in our own lives, bringing about change as we move through life. May we find the strength to look deep inside and engage in a process of imagining the new and then bringing it into reality. And may our efforts lead to blossoming!

Rabbi Judy Kummer is a board certified chaplain in private practice, offering in-person and remote skilled spiritual care visits, eldercare programing and lifecycle events. She has served as Executive Director of the Jewish Chaplaincy Council of MA and other nonprofits, and has served congregations in DC, NY and NJ. She is happiest outdoors hiking in the woods, swimming in a lake at sunset or tending to her Boston organic garden.

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